Spam is a global problem that every corporation and individual must face.  Fortunately, there are ways to reduce the spam you receive, which are outlined in this article.

Use Privacy Protection for your domain name

By law, every domain name must contain valid whois, or contact, information.  A person can do a search for any domain name and find this information, including your email address.  Spammers will typically scour new domains using a whois search engine, such as http://www.whois.sc, for this information.  It is recommended that you us privacy protection on your domain name, which will mask the contact information.  This is a service, and it costs $15.00/year.  For more information, please visit the following link:

Privacy protect your domain name

Use spam-blocking software

A more comprehensive solution to fight spam is to use spam-blocking software.  This software will typically scan incoming emails and will learn what is spam, and what is not.  For information on spam-blocking software, please click on the following links:

McAfee SpamKiller
Norton AntiSpam
MailWasher

Note: we do not endorse or support any of the above products...please research before buying.

In order to use spam software, you will need to setup an email client, such as Outlook or Outlook Express, to download your email.  For information on how to do this, please visit the following link:

Outlook 2000/2003
Outlook Express 6.0

For more email clients, please select Email from the help categories to the left.

Don't use text for email addresses

Spammers use sophisticated programs that will actually scan websites for text that contains the ampersand sign "@", which is used for email addresses.  A recommendation is to create a graphic, or image, of your email address, instead of using text.  An example of this is shown below:

You can create an image like this using Microsoft Paint, and upload it to your website. The only down-side to this is that your visitors will need to manually type in the email address into their email program, instead of clicking on the link.

Use discretion

Finally, use common sense to who you give your email address to.  A good recommendation is to use a free email service, such as Yahoo or MSN, to give out your email address companies or websites you are not sure of.  For trusted individuals, use your private email address.